GULFPORT -- Grammy Award-winning rapper Nelly tops the list of a dozen artists who will perform at the second annual Gulfport Music Festival in May, event organizers announced Wednesday.
Also announced were national rock acts Hinder and Cobra Starship, alternative hip-hop group Gym Class Heroes, rapper Vanilla Ice and Southern rock/hip-hop act Rehab.
Country artists Gary Allan, Justin Moore, Josh Thompson, Sunny Sweeney and Creigh Riepe will also appear. Grammy Award-winning act Maroon 5 was announced previously and will headline the final night of the festival.
The complete lineup will be announced in the coming days and the majority of those acts will consist of local and regional artists. More than 50 acts are scheduled to perform May 18-20 in Jones Park.
“We had close to 400 bands that wanted to perform,” Mississippi Media Operations Manager Kenny Vest said. “Some even from California and Texas, but the majority of them were from the Gulf South. This festival really has a lot of momentum and it’s growing much faster than we anticipated. We’re pleasantly surprised that in one year it’s grown so fast.”
About 20,000 people attended last year’s event and city officials hope that number more than doubles this year.
Mississippi Media General Manager Bill West said that ticket sales have already outpaced this point last year. Economic and Urban Development Director for the city of Gulfport David Nichols says the overall economic impact for the event is projected at $10 million.
Sales tax revenue is expected to be over $130,000, more than triple the $40,000 Nichols says was collected during last year’s festival.
Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets. General admission, three-day passes are $75. VIP tickets are on a first-come, first-serve basis for $250. These prices will remain until Feb. 29. After then, ticket prices will go up $40 for both the general admission and the VIP ticket packages.
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